Chapter 5
Chapter 5
As the saying goes: to know that you do not know is best; to not know and yet think you know is a flaw.
How could an ordinary family ever understand the hardships I have endured over these years?
A woman in her mid-twenties has long since shed the innocence she possessed as a new bride. I am well aware that the only reason my husband’s family hasn’t grown weary of me is that I am sufficiently virtuous and magnanimous.
By rights, the daughter born to Wei Shi should have been handed over to me to raise.
However, my mother-in-law-usually such a stickler for rules-never even breathed a word of it out of favoritism for her.
Later, Cheng Wenting showed me some modicum of respect by reminding Wei Shi to bring the child to me.
That little girl was as delicate as carved jade, a truly adorable bundle. I liked her immensely, but because Wei Shi was constantly staring at me with red, tearful eyes, I had the child sent back to her after only a few days.
Aside from maintaining my reputation for generosity, my primary concern was that she might harbor resentment and secretly poison me.
In the inner chambers of a great house, all manner of filth and treachery can occur. This was especially true in the Cheng Family, where Wei Shi had resided for nearly ten years longer than I had.
Even if she truly committed a crime, she had my mother-in-law and my husband to protect her.
But behind me, there was no one to lean on.
Of course, a daughter raised by the Xie Family is no simpleton. I had even managed to find out exactly where she had purchased her arsenic.
Thank heavens I returned the child to her in time.
And thank heavens that Wei Shi eventually came to her senses as well.
Given her status, it was impossible for her to ever become Cheng Wenting’s primary wife.
If she were to harm me, and Cheng Wenting married another primary wife, who could say whether that newcomer would be a blessing or a curse to her?
During my years in the Cheng Family, while I was never loved by Cheng Wenting, I also never made life difficult for her.
Once she understood this, we lived in peace, each minding our own business.